The Workers Cup

Day -413 #WorldCup2018

I'm home late after going to watch the Canadian premiere of "The Workers Cup", a documentary about the migrant workers building the stadiums and other infrastructure for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. It was sad, it was miserable, it was funny and it showcased a lot of interesting characters from Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, Bangladesh, India who found enjoyment and a bit of bittersweet happiness in football, not the Fifa World Cup but their own little workers' cup. Go find it and watch it.

At the end of the screening I asked the director, Adam Sobel, what he would say to a football fan, what his feelings about the World Cup are, having experienced the workers' misery. His answer was very thoughtful and interesting. He said he wanted the audience to have their own reaction, to answer the question in any way they might want, because it is a question that will linger. We as consumers should decide who or what we want to give our custom to. How do we want to consume Qatar 2022 after seeing this?

He also spoke about how the workers in his film see it: "They love the World Cup. They are building it off their backs, but they would be devastated if they lost it. That is the irony."

Mr. Sobel has lived in Qatar for five years. He mentioned legacies that all World Cups or Olympics leave behind. He believes there is a chance that this World Cup could influence change to labour conditions in Qatar, across other Gulf Nations, and all across the world where this kind of slave labour exists.